In a major security breach, cryptocurrency exchange Bybit has lost approximately $1.46 billion worth of assets in what appears to be the largest cryptocurrency hack to date. The incident was first spotted by blockchain investigator ZachXBT, who noticed suspicious outflows from Bybit's cold storage wallet.
The attacker gained control of Bybit's Ethereum cold wallet and transferred 401,346 ETH (valued at $1.1 billion) along with various staked Ethereum tokens to a new wallet address. The hacker has already begun liquidating the stolen assets, with approximately $200 million worth of staked ETH sold on decentralized exchanges.
Bybit CEO Ben Zhou acknowledged the security incident on social media platform X, confirming that a hacker had compromised one specific ETH cold wallet. He reassured users that all other cold wallets remain secure and withdrawals are functioning normally.
This incident surpasses previous major cryptocurrency hacks in terms of value stolen, including the Mt. Gox hack ($470 million), CoinCheck breach ($530 million), and Ronin Bridge exploit ($650 million).
The crypto market reacted negatively to the news, with Bitcoin and Ethereum prices dropping by more than 1.5% and 2% respectively following the discovery of the unauthorized transfers.
Despite the massive scale of the theft, Bybit maintains it can cover the losses, helping calm fears among its user base. The exchange continues to operate normally while investigating the security breach.